Friday Afternoon News, Nov 30

Dr. Doorenbos Recalls His 41 Years of Service

(Le Mars) -- Floyd Valley Hospital and the general Le Mars community will be saying good bye to a long-time doctor that has served the Le Mars area for the past 41 years. Dr. Daryl Doorenbos is retiring, and the hospital is hosting an open house to honor the doctor on Saturday. Doorenbos, a native to Sioux County, found Le Mars to be a nice place to practice medicine. However, he says early in his career, and prior to the now present hospital facility, he remembers when Le Mars had a shortage of doctors. Listen to

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Doorenbos doesn't recall the number of patients he has cared for during his lengthy career in Le Mars, and he quit obstetrics nearly 20 years ago, but he believes he may have helped deliver between 700 and 800 babies. Doorenbos says he looked forward to going to work each day. Listen to

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Other duties and responsibilities included for a while being the Plymouth County Medical Examiner, as well as Flight Surgeon for the 185 Air National Guard in Sioux City. Doorenbos recalls he pursued medicine simply because of the fasination of studying the human body.

Listen to

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Doorenbos says he will miss the people the most during his retirement.

Floyd Valley Hospital To Hold Open House To Honor Dr. Doorenbos

(Le Mars) -- Floyd Valley Hospital will hold an open house to honor Dr. Daryl Doorenbos on Saturday afternoon. Mike Donlin serves as the administrator for Floyd Valley Hospital. Listen to

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Donlin says Dr. Doorenbos played a major role in the health and welfare of the Le Mars community. Listen to

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Le Mars Man Injured After Truck Rolls

(Dakota City, NE) -- Wednesday evening, at approximately 5:15 p.m. Dakota County, Nebraska Deputies responded to a one vehicle rollover accident with injuries on Highway 35 in Dakota County Nebraska. Jose Luis Rodriguez, 31 years old, of Le Mars was operating a Freightliner tractor pulling a full milk tanker. Rodriguez’s trailer left the roadway and entered into the east ditch. Rodriguez’s tractor trailer overturned and struck a tree before entering into a creek. Rodriguez and his wife were transported to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City by Emerson Rescue with no life threatening injuries. Minor spillage of Diesel fuel and antifreeze along with foam insulation from the tanker did spill into the creek. Nebraska Environmental Quality was contacted and the spillage was contained to a small area of the creek.

Teacher Accused Of Sexual Exploitation

BONDURANT, Iowa (AP) - A high school girls basketball coach has resigned, charged with sexually exploitation by a school employee. Authorities say 30-year-old Melissa Eshelman, of Bondurant, was arrested Thursday and released later in the day. Police County sheriff's Sgt. Jana Rooker says Eshelman resigned from Bondurant-Farrar High School last week. Rooker says school officials reported the situation to the sheriff's office last week. School officials and Rooker declined to specify what incidents or behavior led to the accusations againstEshelman. A phone listed for Eshelman was answered by a woman who said the number was that of a company and that no one by the name of Eshelman was there. Online court records don't list the name of Eshelman's attorney.

Judge To Decide On State Employees Paying 20 % Of Health Insurance

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - An administrative law judge will decide whether Governor Terry Branstad's administration broke the law in July when he allowed state employees the option of paying 20percent of their health insurance premiums. Three labor unions challenged Branstad's executive order saying any changes in insurance benefits must be negotiated or agreed to by the unions. The unions want a judge to end the program and reimburse workers who participated. A hearing was held on Thursday. The Des Moines Register reports that 95 employees took Branstad up on his proposal. Iowa Department of Administrative Services Director Mike Carroll says the issue did not need union blessing because no benefits were changed. A decision is expected by March. More than 80 percent of state employees are not required to pay insurance premiums.

Drake University Considering Changing Grading Policy

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Drake University is considering adding pluses and minuses to grades. The policy change has drawn opposition from many of the university's 5,400 students but would put the Des Moines institution in step with other colleges. The the current system bars such grades as D-minus or A-plus. Drake's faculty is expected to vote in the spring on the proposal. Faculty members generally back the idea. The students opposed to it fear the change could harm their grade-point averages. ---

U of I Wants To Lease Apartment Complex

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - The University of Iowa has plans to lease two more privately-owned apartment buildings on campus in light of record enrollment in its residence halls. The university is asking the Iowa Board of Regents for permission to lease two buildings owned by Svoboda Rentals LLC. Both are within a block of its east-side residence halls, including Burge Hall. They include a total of 28 apartments that either have three or four bedrooms. The university says both buildings would make room to house more returning and transfer students, and they would not be open to first-year students. It notes that they are near the universitydining service inside Burge. The leases would cost the university more than $750,000 per year. The regents will consider the leases at a meeting next week.

U of I To Ask Regents To Demolish Flooded Buildings

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - University of Iowa officials will ask the Board of Regents next week to approve plan to demolish flood-damaged Hancher Auditorium and the School of Art building. Both buildings have been vacant since the 2008 flood. The demolition of both buildings likely won't be completed for another year. University officials estimate demolition costs of nearly $5 million for the Hancher complex and $1.5 million for the art building. Plans call for preserving the 1936 portion of the art building because of its historical significance. The Regents meet Wednesday. ---

Gov. Branstad Appoints Student To Board of Regents

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Gov. Terry Branstad has appointed a University of Iowa student to the state Board of Regents. Branstad on Friday named Hannah Walsh as the board's student member. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation. If confirmed, Walsh will serve until April 30, 2015. She fills the remainder of the term of Greta Johnson, who is no longer a student at one of Iowa's three public universities. The 20-year-old Walsh is from Spirit Lake and majors in political science. She has worked as an Iowa Senate page and serves as co-chair of the University of Iowa Governmental RelationsCommittee.

Shallow Mississippi River May Interrupt River Business

ST. LOUIS (AP) - After months of drought, companies that ship grain and other goods down the Mississippi River are being haunted by a potential nightmare: If water levels fall too low, thenation's main inland waterway could become impassable to barges just as the harvest heads to market. Any closure of the river would upend the transport system that has carried American grain since before steamboats and Mark Twain. So shipping companies are scrambling to find alternative ways tomove crops to the Gulf Coast. The focus of greatest concern is a 180-mile stretch of the river between St. Louis, Missouri and Cairo (KEHR'-oh), Illinois. That's where lack of rain has squeezed the channel from its normal widthof 1,000 feet or more to a just a few hundred feet. And it's shallow.